Associate, Higher Education

Opportunity

Brunswick Group is seeking an Associate in our rapidly growing Foundation, Education and Global Health (FEGH) sector with experience in higher education or a related area, such as academic medical centers, multistakeholder nonprofit organizations or research institutions, in one of Brunswick’s US offices (Washington, New York, San Francisco, Dallas or Chicago). Associates are able to leverage their own specialized skills and backgrounds while operating in Brunswick’s generalist environment.

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

Client Contribution & Handling

• Serve as an expert to clients on reputation, communications and crisis situations across multiple industries
• Provide relevant insight, guidance and advice to clients
• Play integral role in new business process; manage RFPs and participate in pitch preparation

Team Management

• Manage and mentor team members; work with Partner and Director on the day-to-day management of staff and client deliverables
• Manage the development of key client documents by playing a vital role in drafting, editing and routing throughout the internal process and external delivery
• Oversee research assignments; responsible for distilling a large amount of information into the most impactful and helpful points
• Plan and execute client announcements and events, including: Strategic communications plan developmentPreparation of strategic communications documents including talking points, Q&As, day-of rollouts, media backgrounders, etc.Media handling and approachAnnouncement or event logistics
• Organize media meetings and logistics

Networking

• Foster a network of journalist contacts and relationships
• Develop relationships with the education, nonprofit, philanthropy and political communities to understand issues and priorities
• Proactively build a network locally to identify talent referrals, new business prospects and media contacts

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• 7-10+ years of relevant work experience in an advisory role, including at least 3 years in higher education or a related area (academic medical centers, research institutes, complex nonprofit organizations, etc.)
• Deep understanding of current political, business, technology, cultural and social trends, and their impact on higher education, philanthropy, nonprofits and related areas.
• Ability to operate effectively in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced environment
• Exceptional written and verbal communication ability
• Energetic team player with strong self-motivation
• Experience managing teams and passionate about mentoring junior staff
• Ability to think strategically and creatively, with strong problem-solving skills
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to multitask in high-pressure situations
• Exhibit discretion with confidential client matters
• Knowledge of the media and communications landscape
• Knowledge of Factiva, Bloomberg and other research resources

Ideal Candidate:

• A rising advisor with experience counseling clients on mission-critical issues (e.g. crisis, issues management, strategy, geopolitical, etc.)
• Adept at navigating and succeeding within high-performance, entrepreneurial environments
• Excellent communicator with professional polish and strong emotional intelligence
• Entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit
• Desire to mentor and willingness to train junior staff
• Terrific sense of humor

The Firm

About Brunswick

Brunswick is a strategic advisory firm focused on critical issues and critical stakeholders. Our purpose is to help our clients play their role in the world successfully.

We advise on critical issues and critical stakeholders at the center of business, politics and society, and help our clients – the leaders of large, complex organizations – understand and navigate these interconnected worlds.

Brunswick is one firm globally, operating as a single profit center. This allows us to respond seamlessly and effectively to clients’ needs wherever they are in the world.

About the Foundations, Education and Global Health Sector

Brunswick works with some of the biggest and most impactful philanthropic funders, educational institutions, multilateral organizations, and NGOs to address the greatest challenges of our time, from pandemics to climate change, inequality to access to education. We advise the leadership teams of global organizations on communications strategy and stakeholder engagement – integrating our global capabilities in issue expertise, geopolitics, research, and creative campaigns. We help our clients run coordinated policy, advocacy, and communications campaigns to create real change. We also support our clients in managing reputational challenges and risk as they navigate shifting stakeholder expectations and evolving issue terrains.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

Maintaining and strengthening a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace are pillars of Brunswick’s culture and key to our future success. Valuing and supporting every colleague as an individual while helping them reach their full potential is critical to attracting and developing our greatest strength – our people. By embracing our differences and diverse perspectives we create richer experiences within our firm and enhance the quality of the ideas and advice that we deliver to our clients.

Background

Founded in London in 1987, Brunswick’s global partnership has grown organically to 27 offices in 18 countries. We began as a M&A and financial communications firm and, over time, expanded our capabilities to provide expert advice to our clients on a range of business-critical issues. We invested in new offices, sector teams and practice groups including higher education; foundations; investor engagement; shareholder activism; governance; regulatory and public affairs, including geopolitical; crisis; litigation; social issues including climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion; cybersecurity, data and privacy; employee engagement; digital communications; opinion research and analysis, and creative services.

Our CEO is Neal Wolin, based in Washington, D.C. Our Chairman is Sir Alan Parker, based in London.

The Americas

In the U.S., we have offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In Brazil, we have an office in Sao Paulo. We advise clients on, among other things, domestic and cross border M&A, IPOs, activism, capital markets and investor relations, public and regulatory affairs, geopolitical issues, litigation, crisis, cyber, employee engagement, digital, opinion research and on broader reputation campaigns.

Colleagues in the U.S. are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and consist of in-depth industry and sector experts from education, banking, law, accounting, politics, government, journalism and the media, consulting and elsewhere. Our U.S. CEO is Nik Deogun.